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Memorial on 'best hospitals' list

Hospital is fifth in state, highest in Savannah

Special to the Courier

POSTED:July 29, 2013 9:30 p.m.

Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah was ranked the fifth-best hospital in Georgia and the highest-rated hospital in Savannah on U.S. News & World Report’s 2013-14 “Best Hospitals” list. The annual list, now in its 24th year, recognizes hospitals that excel in treating patients. Memorial was ranked fifth in Georgia, behind Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, Medical Center of Central Georgia in Macon, Shepherd Center in Atlanta and Emory University Hospital Midtown in Atlanta. “This is a tremendous honor and a tribute to our hard-working team,” Memorial Health President and CEO Maggie Gill said. “Every day, we focus on driving quality and improving the health-care experience. This ranking proves that our hard work is having an impact.” U.S. News evaluates hospitals in 16 adult specialties. In most specialties, it ranks the nation’s top 50 hospitals and recognizes other high-performing hospitals that provide care at nearly the level of their nationally ranked peers. Memorial was recognized for 10 high-performing specialties: cancer; diabetes; ear, nose and throat; gastroenterology; geriatrics; gynecology; nephrology; neurology and neurosurgery; pulmonology; and urology. “A hospital that emerges from our analysis as one of the best has much to be proud of,” said Avery Comarow, U.S. News health-rankings editor. “Only about 15 percent of hospitals are recognized among their region’s best. Just 3 percent of all hospitals earn a national ranking in any specialty.” U.S. News publishes the “Best Hospitals” guide to help patients who need a high level of care because of a difficult surgery, a challenging condition, additional health problems or age. Objective measures, such as patient survival, safety data, nurse staffing and other data, largely determine the rankings in most specialties. The specialty rankings and data were produced for U.S. News by RTI International, a research organization. The rankings have been published at health.usnews.com/best-hospitals and will appear in print in the U.S. News Best Hospitals 2014 Guidebook, available in bookstores and on newsstands Aug. 27. Memorial University Medical Center is a two-state health-care organization serving a 35-county area in Southeast Georgia and southern South Carolina. The system includes its flagship hospital, a 610-bed academic medical center; Memorial primary- and specialty-physician networks; a medical-education program; business and industry services; and NurseOne, a 24-hour call center. To learn more, go to www.memorialhealth.com. You can follow it at facebook.com/memorialhealth, twitter.com/mymemorial and youtube.com/memorialhealth.